Just realized I stuck this in drafts and never actually posted it. It’s slightly out of date, but oh well. The general point still stands.
***
Reading through BBC’s Have Your Say thread asking “what will the ban on minarets in Switzerland achieve”, I was stopped short by an utter wtf moment in response to one of the comments:
“I envy the Swiss.
I’d love to be able to vote to set standards that visitors to our country have to abide by; whether they be religious or otherwise.
Instead, as a white, able-bodied, hetrosexual, Christian man, I am relegated to the bottom of the pecking order in just about any category you care to mention.
I’d move to Switzerland, but as they’re outside the EU, they’re allowed to control immigration too.
Imagine that…”
Now, I’ll admit, what really bowled me over was the commenter’s ability to write the second paragraph with what appears to be complete sincerity, but others (note: this link does not indicate agreement with the linked author on all/any issues) blog far better about privilege than I ever could.
This man’s comment, however, also raises a second point: pure democracy sucks. No, really.
A lot of people don’t stop to think about this. Somehow democracy occupies this almost deified position in much of Western society. And yet, there’s a very good reason why the term “tyranny of the majority” exists.
To the man originally quoted, my response is to try seeing what it feels like not to be “white, able-bodied, heterosexual, Christian,” and, to a lesser extent, male. Just once, try it. Or, more accurately, imagine really really hard.
Tyranny of the majority makes a whole heck load more sense when you’re firmly a part of that majority.
Okay, mini-rant over. Just one more thing.
Lots of people in the US don’t realize what a wonderful document the constitution is. It ensures that some things just are not up for a vote. Or, at least, it tries to. To those who consider things like Prop 8 a perfectly reasonable representation of voter rights, I recommend you consider the reasoning behind your country’s constitution a little more closely. There are many things I don’t love about the US. But, as an adopted US resident (and citizen), I’ve gotta say the constitution is one thing I do. If you take it for granted, don’t. Look it up, read it, remember it, and, most importantly, keep it in mind when these sorts of things come up in the news.
Just my thought for the day folks.